


Stranger Than Fiction

by Yggdrastiles (hauntedsilences)



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Bondage, Dom/sub, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 12:34:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9491141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hauntedsilences/pseuds/Yggdrastiles
Summary: Will Graham is basically Dr. Strange, but not. He still gets the cape tho. Because the cape is cool.~*~Will Graham sees Kaecilius for who he truly is, and when he's bound at Will's feet, entirely at his mercy...Will makes a decision.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [postmortemdesign](https://archiveofourown.org/users/postmortemdesign/gifts).



> For Ollie ♥

Will Graham was an empath.

 

He'd always had high degrees of empathy, something that was usually more curse than blessing. He'd had a simple beginning which started on the boat docks of Louisiana, when, as a young boy, he’d been able to tell precisely when he wasn’t wanted around. He could tell when his father was too drunk to be patient with him, and he knew to make himself scarce.

 

When he joined the police academy and later graduated, hitting the streets of New Orleans as a beat cop, he’d realized just how useful this...intuition was. Of course, it had taken him a while to realize that what he could do wasn’t something everyone was able to do. In fact, no one he’d ever met expressed the ability to do the same. Patrolling the streets, he knew instinctively which teenagers were up to no good, and which were just loitering.

 

Will started to realize what his “gifts” truly meant the first time he responded to a homicide. Rather than empathizing with the victim, who had bled out on the floor, he’d empathized with the killer, understanding the rage that had driven him to shoot his wife in cold blood. He’d fallen so deeply into his own imaginings that when he’d finally snapped out of it, it was to run outside and vomit in a bush.

 

They caught the killer. But not before he put a bullet in Will’s shoulder. He hadn’t pulled the trigger first, because when he saw the man, he’d _seen_ him. He’d empathized with him so deeply then that shooting him would have been akin to shooting himself. Clearly, the man hadn’t felt the same way. Will got a trip to the ER, months of physical therapy, and a discharge from duty.

 

After a couple months of trying to drink himself into a coma, he’d received a letter from the FBI academy at Quantico. It was bittersweet, considering his application to join the FBI as a field agent had been summarily dismissed. To now hear that they wanted him to teach was like adding insult to injury. But, left without many other options, he packed up his life and moved to Virginia.

 

It took Will a while for him to decide that he could be content like this, keeping his head down and spending his days teaching future agents to do what he could do effortlessly. It was an uphill battle. Somehow he managed to garner the attention of Jack Crawford, a man that Will still thought of with some resentment.

 

The director of the FBI was, in some ways, lazy. Preferring to use Will’s empathy to solve cases, rather than his own skills and those of his teams. Cases, no matter how trivial, became Will’s responsibility. All the duties of an agent, but without any of the benefits. It rankled, but for the longest time it felt like Will was doing something worthy. Even though he could see that his mental health was deteriorating.

 

It was a slow decline. There were the nightmares first, and then there was the sleepwalking. By the time Will started experiencing the hallucinations and loss of time, Jack had managed to guilt him into staying, regardless of the toll on his health. After all, people were _dying_. Was Will really so selfish that he’d let people die over a few nightmares?

 

The choice was taken from him when a serial killer targeted him, specifically. He’d been caught in the end, but not before nearly a dozen agents had died trying to protect Will from the madman. In the final confrontation he’d managed to shoot Jack before Will had emptied his clip into him. That night, Jack lying in the hospital and unable to argue, Will submitted his letter of resignation.

 

Time passed, he was diagnosed with encephalitis, and had it treated. Still, it seemed that no matter how much Will distanced himself from the horrors he’d lived, they still plagued him, haunted him. There was nowhere to run from himself.

 

That's how he found himself on the steps of Kamar-Taj, seeking healing wherever he could find it.

 

After fighting the demons in his mind, accepting magic as real was hardly a leap of faith.

 

“Will Graham. You have a great gift. Great gifts too often, if left unchecked, become our greatest curses.” The Ancient One spoke truth that resonated deep with him. She was unreadable to him, a blank slate almost, and it was comforting. Her presence was peaceful, tranquil, a balm to his tortured mind.

 

Still, meditation was frightening in a whole new way. Being alone in his own mind...well, he was never truly alone in there, was he?

 

“You are not the first to come to us with such maladies. Here, have some tea.”

 

There was a spell the Ancient One wove around him, projecting herself into his mind’s eye in the most literal guided meditation session Will had ever imagined being possible.

 

“How…?” Will asked, not understanding how he could see her here, in his mindscape, a place so ravaged by darkness and despair.

 

“What’s in your mind is just as real as anything else.” She explained. “When in this plane of existence, your environment can be molded, manipulated just like any other…”

 

“And what, the tea was to let you inside my mind?” Will asked, sceptical.

 

The Ancient One laughed, her voice light and melodic. “Oh no, no. It was just jasmine tea, nothing special about that.” She shook her head. “No, the minds of others are not difficult to enter, which is why we must build your mental defences, make the demons in your mind work for you not against you.”

 

They walked through the thorns and brambles that littered the misty forest of Will’s subconscious, taming the beasts within and healing wounds that had been left to fester for years.

 

Things were...easier after that. Will was able to start learning to compartmentalize, to meditate on his own, although they still had weekly guided sessions. The Ancient One never commented on the things that they saw in their journeys through Will’s mind, and he was grateful for it.

 

With time, his nightmares faded. The images, while still gruesome, no longer woke him with cold sweats and screaming.

 

“Your mind is beginning to work through your experiences.” The Ancient One had explained. “You are moving forward, beginning to heal.” It also meant that Will was finally stable enough to be able to concentrate on learning magic.

 

A prerequisite was, of course, concentration and a firm control over one’s mind. Will was still working on that last one.

 

Will took to magic like a fish to water, progressing quickly and absorbing himself in ancient texts, learning to read Sanskrit, Ancient Latin, and even some Old Norse. Magic wasn’t something confined to a single community or a single part of the world, and Will seemed determined to study it all.

 

Magic flowed through him near effortlessly, bubbling just under the surface of his skin, waiting to be summoned forth to do his bidding. He tried not to show just how advanced his abilities had become.

 

There was a hunting cabin, hidden deep in the woods where he’d grown up. He travelled there sometimes, seeking a place of refuge away from the watchful eyes of the Sorcerer Supreme. He taught himself how to secure the location with wards of his own design, ensuring that none would find it that hadn’t already been there, and the only other person who’d ever passed its threshold was dead.

 

It was here that Will practiced more obscure magic, things that he read about in the texts that were sacred and forbidden. He was careful, never aroused suspicion, and was careful to make sure he never displayed knowledge that it would be unusual for him to have. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea that there was knowledge reserved for the Ancient One, and was determined to discover it all. Even if he couldn’t perform it himself, he needed to know. He needed to know that the possibilities were, the extent of magical potential.

 

Years later, he’d be glad that he’d ventured down these roads.

\------

The first time Will met Kaecilius was he stole the book of Cagliostro right from under them. There were no more than five seconds in which their eyes met, Will’s outraged and Kaecilius’ smug, before Kaecilius smirked and winked, before disappearing into a portal, untraceable.

 

In those five seconds, Will had felt the elation that Kaecilius had felt, triumphant and relieved. As if finally after a life of toil and fruitless labor, he had finally succeeded against all odds. It was an interesting feeling to have picked up, and Will mulled over it for quite some time before he put it out of his mind.

 

“Will!” Beverly called him, a powerful sorcerer in her own right. “Come on, the Ancient One is calling a meeting, everyone’s required to be there.” She explained and Will followed her out the door of his personal quarters and out towards the large courtyard where everyone was gathered.

 

There he learned about the impending end of the universe as they knew it, and the manhunt for Kaecilius and his acolytes began. Will wasn’t sure if he’d ever see the man again, but he was certain that if he ever did, neither would ever be the same again.

\------

When the contraption finished arranging itself, Kaecilius was held tight in its grasp, and Will watched him as he caught his breath, not entirely believing that he was out of hot water just yet. The man intrigued him, eyes that bored into his skull, begging Will to make eye contact, which he refused him, purely on principle.

 

Will took stock of his surroundings. They couldn’t stay here long. Sure, he had his sling ring and he had the cape that seemed to have imprinted on him like some kind of stray puppy, but that didn’t tell him what he was meant to do with the man in front of him. On his knees, seeming to be patiently waiting for him. He wasn’t struggling. Didn’t even try. How curious.

 

He was, however, attempting to speak through the mouthpiece that muffled his words.

 

“What?” Will asked, not really caring about the answer, and in response only received more muffled protests. “Ugh. Stop it.” He groused, but the mumbling continued.

 

“I said stop it!” He snapped irritably, walking over to remove the muzzle.

 

“You cannot stop this, Mister Will.” Kaecilius stated, and Will rolled his eyes, he didn’t have time to play these games.

 

“Look, I don’t even know what this is.” Will pointed out, not willing to negotiate with a fanatic.

 

“It’s the end. And the beginning. The many becoming the few, becoming the one.”

 

“Look, if you’re not going to start making sense, I’m just going to have to put this thing back on.” Will warned, brandishing the mouthpiece in his direction, entirely serious about his threat.

 

“Tell me, Mister Will, in your time at Kamar-Taj, have you not studied the laws of nature?”

 

“Yes…?” Will offered, narrowing his eyes as he tried to gauge where, exactly Kaecilius was going with this.

 

“Then you know that all things age, all things die. In the end, our sun burns out, our universe grows cold and perishes. But the dark dimension, it’s a place beyond time.” He said and Will was intrigued despite himself. “The world doesn’t have to die, Mister Will. This world can take its rightful place among so many others as part of the one – the greater, beautiful one. We can all live forever.”

 

“Really?” Will asked sceptically. “And what do you have to gain out of this new-age dimensional utopia?” He wondered, having difficulty deciphering what his motivations truly were. Surely anyone who lived in the world for any stretch of time would realize that eternal life was entirely overrated. Unless one had…unfulfilled desires.

 

“The same as you, the same as everyone. Life. Eternal life. People think in terms of good and evil but really time is the true enemy of us all. Time kills everything.”

 

Ah. Will understood, it was painfully clear now, the truth beneath his words written clear as day on Kaecilius’ face. “And what about the people you kill?” Will countered, deciding to wait and see where the conversation would take them before he utilized the revelation he’d just received.

 

“Tiny, momentary specks within an indifferent universe. Yes, you see. You see what we’re doing. The world is not what it ought to be. Humanity longs for the eternal, a world beyond time because time is what enslaves us, time is an insult. Death is an insult, Will. We don’t seek to rule this world. We seek to save it, to hand it over to Dormammu who is the intent of all evolution, the why of all existence.” He rambled, his speech hurried and frantic as if gripped by great conviction. Which, Will supposed, he was.

 

There was something about the way Kaecilius spoke that belied a deeper, greater pain and Will couldn’t help but wonder what it was. What could drive a man to such lengths? Willing to trade in their own species to an unknown entity, all for a shot at immortality?

 

“The sorcerer supreme defends existence.” Will countered, more than happy to play the Devil’s advocate to see where it would get them.

 

“What was it that brought you to Kamar-Taj, Will, was it enlightenment? Power? You came to be healed, as did we all. Kamar-Taj is a place that collects broken things. We all come with the promise of being healed and instead the Ancient One gives us parlor tricks. The real magic she keeps to herself. You ever wonder how she managed to live this long?”

 

Ah yes, this was where it would get interesting. Will wondered how long it would take him to bring up the Ancient One like this. It was something that Will had wondered himself, especially after he himself had gone through and read the ancient tomes and forbidden knowledge. He had suspected for some time, especially when the records and journals from over the years had suggested that the Ancient One had been alive for centuries at least. He hadn’t confronted her then, though, it would have gained him nothing but a watchful eye, if not an outright target on his back. No, he’d kept the knowledge to himself and made his own plans in secret.

 

“I...saw the rituals in the book of Cagliostro.” Will offered vaguely, an encouragement for Kaecilius to continue.

 

“So. You know. The ritual gives me the power to overthrow the Ancient One and tear her sanctums down. To let the dark dimension in. Because what the Ancient One hoards, Dormammu gives freely - life everlasting. He’s not the destroyer of worlds, Will, he’s the savior of worlds.” Kaecilius insisted.

 

Will nodded slowly, approaching him carefully. Until now, he’d maintained a wary distance, but he’d seen the truth now, he wasn’t in danger from this man. Not if he played his cards right.

 

Kaecilius, however…Will couldn’t quite decipher the expression on his face, the questions that burned in his eyes. Will could tell he wanted to say more, but was waiting for Will’s response first. The ball was in Will’s court, so to speak. If they hadn’t had much time in the beginning, they had even less now, and Will had a decision to make.

 

Standing directly in front of Kaecilius, forcing him to strain his neck against his bonds in order to maintain the eye contact he sought.

 

“Who did you lose?” Will asked, and watched with satisfaction as Kaecilius’s eyes widened and his lips parted, as if in immediate denial. “Lie to me, and we’re done here.” Will warned, pleased with the way Kaecilius’s mouth snapped shut and he seemed to reconsider the words he was about to speak.

 

“Everyone.” He said at length, and Will felt the pain that imbued that one word as if it were his own. It was staggering.

 

“Your pain. Your grief. It’s written all over your face, every moment of your life. It’s unmistakable to someone who knows how to look for it.” Will said quietly, his voice almost too loud in the silent room with the change in atmosphere.

 

“I can read you like an open book. I see you.” Will continued, meeting his eyes with his own, reading the micro expressions of shock and discomfort and fear that flitted across Kaecilius’s face. “The tempest of emotion in your heart and mind…” Will shook his head slowly. “Imagine being able to silence it.”

 

This prompted a response, Kaecilius’s eyes filled with something like hope, and then with something far more tangible and liquid as he looked down, eyes fluttering closed.

 

Will sighed softly, they’d spent far too long here. If Kaecilius’s acolytes’ didn’t find him first, then it wouldn’t be long before the Sorcerer Supreme was back with reinforcements. They needed to go.

 

Will let his palm rest on Kaecilius’s head, his touch gentle and soothing. The moment his hand made contact, it seemed to spark an uncontrollable reaction in the man, who now trembled at Will’s feet.

 

“I can do that for you.” Will promised. He was confident he’d be able to follow through, especially if this was Kaecilius’s initial reaction to being in this position. Oh yes, Will knew exactly how to take him out of his own mind. He couldn’t fathom the idea of letting the others kill him, but neither could he let him go through with his plans to turn the universe over to Dormammu.

 

He knew enough at this point to know that the Sorcerer Supreme would never allow Kaecilius to live after this, and an unusual pang of grief cut through Will’s heart, something he wasn’t willing to analyze too closely at the present moment. There’d be time enough for that later.

 

Kaecilius’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears as he looked back up at Will. “The Ancient One – what will you tell her?” His thoughts clearly running along the same vein as Will’s.

 

“That you escaped.” He said simply. “I was too late.”

 

“Were you?”

 

“I don’t think so. There’s hope for you yet, Kaecilius.” Will smiled wryly.

 

“And if you fail?” He challenged, a streak of defiance that Will had the feeling he’d both curse and learn to enjoy.

 

“I’ll make you a deal.” Will offered. “Give me a month. If nothing’s changed, you can go back to plotting world domination or whatever.” Will said. “Alternatively, we can wait here until someone comes looking for one or both of us.” He shrugged. “Given your current…position…I’d say that scenario probably doesn’t end favourably for you.” He said, a mere statement of fact which Kaecilius accepted with little more than a nod.

 

“There are plans in the works…I cannot simply abandon them.” Kaecilius tried.

 

“With Dormammu?” Will guessed. Kaecilius nodded. “Thought you said he existed outside of time. I’d say he probably wouldn’t notice a month of Earth time pass.”

 

Kaecilius pursed his lips rather than admit Will was right. Resigned, he nodded in agreement. “Very well. A month.” He said. “I will warn you, though, you’d be accomplishing the impossible. A feat that not even the Ancient One could manage.”

 

“That’s because she didn’t know you. I may have just met you…but I can see you.” Will said, noting the slight shiver that went through him at the sentiment.

 

“And what do you see, Will?” The words tumbled from his mouth like he could hardly contain them.

 

Will cupped his cheek with one hand, and didn’t fail to notice the way that Kaecilius pressed into it ever so slightly, still wary of complete surrender. Will was confident that that would change. His thumb ran over Kaecilius’ lower lip, a gesture not inherently suggestive, but the way that his lips parted ever so slightly in a soundless gasp left Will’s mind filled with a million obscene thoughts and imaginings.

 

“I see…strength, power beyond my ability to comprehend, and unfathomable loneliness.” Will said quietly, and Kaecilius didn’t contradict him. “You are alone in this world, but you don’t have to be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [Tumblr](yggdrastiles.tumblr.com)


End file.
